The Washington Nationals didn’t get a whole lot of production from the offense this afternoon, but they sure didn’t need more than three runs. The young coaching staff had quite the strategy cooked up this afternoon from a pitching standpoint, and a combination of PJ Poulin, Zack Littell, Mitchell Parker, Gus Varland, and Richard Lovelady executed it to perfection, leading the Nats to the 3-2 victory in today’s salvage game.

The Action

This one got underway at a lightning-fast pace, with PJ Poulin and Logan Henderson trading zeroes over the first two frames. Blake Butera chose to stretch Poulin out as his opener this afternoon, letting the lefty cover the first six outs of the game, which he did masterfully.

The Nationals were able to get out of a second and third with one out jam in the second, as Poulin was able to get a clutch popout and strikeout to end his outing successfully. The Nats went to Zack Littell, their bulk guy for the day, in the third inning, and he picked up the pitcher’s duel with Henderson right where Poulin left off.

Through the third and fourth innings, both teams went down in order, taking us to the fifth inning with still no action on the scoreboard. That scoreless tie was finally broken in the top half of the fifth, as Milwaukee put men on second and third with one out for the second time on the afternoon. This time, they were able to cash in, albeit only scoring one, on a Joey Ortiz sacrifice fly.

This 1-0 deficit lasted not even an inning, as it seemed to be all that was needed for the Nationals’ offense to wake up, which they did in the bottom of the fifth. CJ Abrams got things started with a single and a stolen base, and Nasim Nunez brought him in with an RBI single to even up the score at one apiece. That wasn’t all, as Jose Tena came up next and delivered his first triple of the season, scoring Nunez all the way from first, and putting the Nats ahead 2-1 in the middle frames.

• Logan Henderson: 6 innings, 3 hits, 2 runs (2 earned), 0 walks, 8 strikeouts, 76 pitches
• Zack Littell: 3.2 innings, 1 hit, 1 run (1 earned), 1 walk, 1 strikeout, 41 pitches

Hats off to the strategy by the Nationals’ coaching staff, and the execution by Poulin and Littell. Zack Littell came in with that 0-0 score and worked extremely efficiently, and better yet, extremely effectively. The struggling arm recorded 11 outs on just 41 pitches, and while I’m sure it would have been tempting to leave him in, I know I would have really thought hard about it, Blake Butera and Simon Matthews stuck to the plan and took Littell out of the game while he still had a positive outing to hang his hat on, and went to Mitchell Parker, who came in and shoved as well.

The offense delivered a clutch insurance run in the bottom of the seventh, as once again, it was CJ Abrams getting things started with a leadoff single. After a balk and a groundout moved him to third, Nasim Nunez came up big for the second time on the afternoon, coming through with an RBI single to put the Nationals ahead 3-1 heading into the late innings.

That was all the Nationals needed, as the pitching today was just spectacular. Mitchell Parker took the Nats up to two outs in the eighth inning, and there they pulled the trigger and brought in the apparent new closer, Gus Varland, to get the final four outs.

Only that wasn’t the final chess move that Blake Butera had up his sleeve. In what appears to be a strategy that diverts from pretty much all traditional baseball thinking, the Nationals don’t seem to have a real closer. This new regime has shown time and time again that they will play the matchups in every possible situation, and with one out and a man on first in the ninth, they did just that. With two lefties due up, Butera played the matchups and went to his current lefty ace in the bullpen, Richard Lovelady.

It didn’t come easily; we did have to hold our collective breath, as the Brewers came to within one run with an RBI groundout by Garrett Mitchell, putting the tying run in scoring position with two outs. Luckily, Lovelady was able to keep his cool and get a huge out against Brandon Lockridge to put this one in the books for a huge Nats win.

What’s Next?

The Nats will get to stick around home for a day tomorrow, getting another off-day amidst this six-game homestand. While the boys hang around and enjoy their day of rest tomorrow, the struggling Minnesota Twins will be coming into town with a new-look roster from what we’ve seen from them in recent years, and maybe not in the best way. Game one of this three-game series will get underway at 6:45 on Tuesday night, and the Nationals will go to their ace Cade Cavalli (1-1, 3.82 ERA) to try and set the tone and get them off to a strong start to the series. The Twins will counter with Taj Bradley (3-1, 2.85 ERA), once a top prospect in the Rays’ system, and honestly, he was one of the most curious front office moves of the season last year when he was DFA’d by Tampa. He’s a young guy with electric stuff that just needed a little more development, and the Rays straight up gave up on him. The Twins have reaped the benefits of that move and have seen a great start to the season from the righty.

Down on the Farm

AAA Rochester

• 6-3 win this afternoon versus Worcester
• Chandler Champlain: 6 innings, 3 hits, 1 run, 1 walk, 4 strikeouts (3.12 ERA on the season)
• Julian Fernandez: 1.2 innings, 0 hits, 0 runs, 0 walks, 2 strikeouts (3.38 ERA on the AAA season)
• Christian Franklin: 2-5, stolen base (6) (BA up to .269, OPS to .710)
• Dylan Crews: 2-4, home run (4), 2 RBIs (BA up to .259, OPS to .774)
• YoYo Morales: 2-4 (BA up to .330, OPS to .917)
• Andrew Pinckney: 1-4, home run (4), 3 RBIs (BA up to .270, OPS to .822)
• Trey Lipscomb: 1-4, double, RBI (BA up to .240, OPS to .676)
• Tomorrow: Off day

AA Harrisburg

• 13-11 win this afternoon at Akron (was trailing 11-0 after second inning)
• Alex Clemmey: 1.1 innings, 4 hits, 7 earned runs, 4 walks, 1 strikeout (5.95 ERA this season)
• Connor Van Scoyoc: 3 innings, 1 hit, 0 runs, 1 walk, 4 strikeouts (2.33 ERA this season)
• Seaver King: 3-5, home run (5), double, RBI, walk (BA up to .306, OPS at .969)
• Cayden Wallace: 3-6, RBI (BA up to .298, OPS at .931)
• Sam Petersen: 3-5, 2 doubles, 4 RBIs, walk (BA up to .216, OPS at .789)
• Maxwell Romero Jr.: 3-5, 2 home runs (3), 4 RBIs (BA up to .283, OPS at .932)
• Tomorrow: Off-day

High-A Wilmington

• 6-5 win this afternoon over Asheville
• Riley Maddox: 4 innings, 2 hits, 1 run, 4 walks, 3 strikeouts (3.91 ERA this season)
• Pablo Adonis: 2.1 innings, 1 hit, 1 run, 0 walks, 2 strikeouts (3.60 ERA this season)
• Devin Fitz-Gerald: 0-2, 2 walks, RBI (BA up to .293, OPS at .946)
• Ethan Petry: 0-3, 2 RBIs, walk (BA up to .314, OPS at .961)
• Elijah Green: 1-4, home run (6), 3 RBIs (BA up to .172, OPS at .663)
• Matt Suggs: 2-3, double (BA up to .205, OPS at .634)
• Tomorrow: Off-day

Low-A Fredericksburg

• 9-1 win today versus Hickory
• Alexander Meckley: 4 innings, 3 hits, 1 run, 5 walks, 3 strikeouts (2.19 ERA this season)
• Grant Manning: 3 innings, 3 hits, 0 runs, 0 walks, 4 strikeouts (2.41 ERA this season)
• Eli Willits: 2-4, walk (BA up to .275, OPS at .870)
• Yeremy Cabrera: 3-5, home run (5), double, 3 RBIs (BA up to .297, OPS at 1.022)
• Nick Hollifield: 2-4, home run (1), 2 RBIs (BA up to .173, OPS at .636)
• Rafael Ramirez Jr.: 2-3, double, RBI, walk (BA up to .244, OPS at .644)
• Tomorrow: Off-day